Door construction for washing machines



Jan. 29, 1929.

J. MAKI DOOR CONSTRUCTION FOR WASHING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet "1 Filed00'0- 20, 1927 Jan. 29, '1929. 1,700,706

J. MAKI v DOOR CONSTRUCTION FOR WASHING MACHINES Filed 001?. 20, 1927 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 29, 1929. I

1 .UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

IULIus MARI, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASS-IGNOR TO THE WHELCO ENGINEERING &MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION or ILLINOIS.

DOOR CONSTRUCTION FOR WASHING MACHINES.

Application filed October 20, 1927. Serial No. 227,372.

.The present invention relates to wooden washing machines of the typedlsclosed in my prior Patent N 0. 1,598,355 and has for its.

object to improve the door construction in the rotatable cylinders ofsuch machines.

In machines of the character under consideration the wood around thedoor openings and in the doors wears, so that in time there ,may beformed cracks wide enough to allow small pieces of wash-to pass throughor be caught and subsequently torn. Specifically considered, the presentinvention has for its object so to construct the doors and what may betermed the door frame that this objection will be completely overcome.

- The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterizedwill hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claims; but,for a full understanding of my invention and of its objects andadvantages, reference may be had to the following detailed descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is an elevation of a fragment of a washing-machine cylinderembodying my invention; Fig. 2 is an edge View of one of the lowerdoors, on a somewhat larger scale' than Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is asection on anenlarged scale taken on line 3-3 .of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a transversesection through the cylinder on line 4-4 of Fig. 1, the scale being thesame as that of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a section on the same plane as Fig. 4,showing a smaller fragment of the cylinder, and the upper door be ingopen andFig. 6 is a perspective viewo'f a fragment of the cylinder,showing the upper door closed and the lower door open. Referring to thedrawings, 1 represents a wooden washing machine cylinder of any ,usualor suitable construction and having any desired number of compartmentseach provided with. a door opening in the periphery of the cylinder. Myinvention has to do with the cylinder closures and it will therefore besuflicient to describe only one of such closures.-

The cylinder as a whole is ma e of parallel staves extendinglongitudinally of the cylinder, and the door opening is formed by theremoval of sections of the staves. Asin my aforesaid patent,the dooropening is provided with a closure. consisting of a wide upper door 2and a narrow lower door 3. The upper door is hinged to a heavy woodenbeam frame, and the lower door is hinged to a similar beam 5 boundingthe door opening at the bottom.-

As in my aforesaid patent, the upper door has parts 6 projecting beyondthefre'e or lower edge to the lower door frame member, these partsunderlying the lower door when both doors are closed. Also, the lowerdoor is provided with catches 7 remote from its hinge axis to engagewith the body of the cylinder and lock the two. doors in their closedpositions.

Since the doors and the cylinder are made of wood, the gradual wearingaway of the wood in service produces a looseness whereby cracks orcrevices are created, permitting small pieces of wash to pass through orbe caught and torn. Such wearing occurs on the faces of the beams 4 and5 bounding the door opening. In order that wear at these points shall beharmless, I form in that edge of each'of the beams 4 and 5 that meetsthe hinged edge of the corresponding door a deep narrow groove extendingthe entire width of the door, as indicated at 8 and 10. On the undersideof the upper door I fasten a metal plate 9, preferably of brass thatprojects rearwardly beyond the edge of the door and enters the groove 8when the door is closed; and the lower door is provided on its innerside with a metal sheathing 11 projecting roarwanlly beyond the hingededge in position to enter the groove 10 when the door is closed.Consequently, no n'iatter how great the wear on the beams, the jointsbetween the cylinder and the hinged ends of the doors will always remaintight, since the sealing grooves are deep and the plates on the doorspreferably bottom in the same.

The lower door is used as an unloading shelf and therefore, in order toprotect it against wear, the metal preferably covers the entire innerface or side so as to form a compIete sheathing for the same.Furthermore,

I prefer to-place on the lower beam 5. betweenthe groove and the outerface of the beam a wearing plate 12 that will prevent the beam fromwearing in this zone to a degree that will permit wash to catch whendrawn out of the cylinder overthe unloading door or shelf, or smallpieces of wash to drop down between-the cylinder and the lower door..

I also provide the upper door with a metal lip 13 extending across thefull width thereof at the front or free end, this lip projectingforwardly in about the plane of the under- 'doors but, since thecontactin side of the door, to form a shelf on which the free end of thelower door rests when the doors are closed. The member 13 mayconvenient- 1 be one flange of an angle member, the other ange of whichis secured to and covers the edge of the upper door. By this means thereis not only forineda tight joint between the faces between the doors areofmetal, the tightness of the joint will be maintained in service, sincethe metal will not wear appreciably.

As in my aforesaid patent, both doors are provided on their outer faceswith metal plates, indicated at 14 and 15, respectively, to overlap thecylindrical walls of the "cyl-' inder at the sides of the door opening.As best shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the cylinder is sheathed with metal, asindicated at 16, in

- service and insuring ing the appendedclaims.

the zones engaged by the'plates 14 and 15; the wooden body of thecylinder being made of slightly smaller diameter immediately adjacent tothe door opening, to compensate for the thickness of the, metalsheathing 16. Therefore, when the do'orsare closed, there will be metalto metal contact between the I claim 1. In combination, a horizontalwashing machine cylinder having a door opening in its cylindrical wall,an upper door and a lower door associated with said openingand hingedrespectively at the top and at'the bottom,

- each door having at its hinge edge a fin pro jecting outwardly fromsaid edge, and there being in the upper and lower edges of the wallbounding said opening deep grooves to receive said fins when the doorsare closed.

2. In combination, a horizontal washing machine cylinder having a ,dooropening in its cylindrical wall, wooden beams bounding said opening atthe top and at the bottom,

' each beamfhaving a narrow groove extending lengthwise thereof in theface directed to ward said' opening, doors hinged to the respectivebeams, and metal fins on said doors in position to enter said grooveswhen the doors are closed.

3. In combination, a horizontal washing machine cylinder having a dooropening in its cylindrical wall, wooden doors respectively-hinged to thecylinder at the' upper andlower margins of said opening, the upper 1door having at its lower end a metal plate projecting outwardly fromsaid edge on the inner side ofthe door, and the lower door having on itsinner sidea metal sheathing adapted to rest on said plate when the doorsare closed.

4. In combination, a horizontal washing.v machme cylinder having a dooropening in its cylindrical wall, a wide wooden upper door and a narrowwooden lower door respec tively hinged to the cylinder at the upper andlower margins of the door opening, a metal facing on theinner side ofthe narrow lower door, and a lip of metal projecting from the loweredgeof the upper door in position to underlie the lower door when thedoors are closed, said lip being of a length substan-' tially equal tothe width of the doors.

5. In combination, a horizontal wooden washing machine cylinder having adoor opening in its cylindrical wall, the bounding edges of the sad wallat the top and at the bottom of said opening containing deep nar-.' 'rowgrooves extending across said opening,

metal strips on said wall at the sides of said opening, upper and lowerwooden doors for.

said opening, a fin projecting trom each door in position to enter thecorresponding groovewhen the doorsare closed, and metal elementsprojecting laterally from the doors in position to rest on said stripswhen the doors'are closed. v

6, In combination, a horizontal wooden washing machine cylinder having adoor opening in its cylindrical wall, the'bounding edges of the saidwall atthe top and at the bottom of said opening containing. deep narrowgrooves extending across said opening,

metal strips on said wall at the sides of said opening, upper andlowerwoodendoors for said openlng, a fin projecting from each door;

in position to enter the corresponding groove when the doors are closed,metal elements projecting laterally from the doors in position to reston said strips when the doors are closed, a metal sheathing on' theinner side of the lower door, and a metal lip projecting from the loweredge of the, 11 per door'in position to underlie the lowerd doors areclosed.

tion.

. JULIus MAKI.

oor when the I Intestimony whereof, I sign this specifica-

